I currently have 2 credits cards. I have PC Financial Mastercard which is our joint account. I’m not sure what the interest is since we never carry a balance and we collect the points towards food. My second card is a TD GM Visa Card. Now I’m not happy with this card because of the rewards it offers. As I make purchases on the card I earn money towards the purchase of my next GM vehicle. This is great except I’m probably never ever going to buy a new car and if I do it most likely won’t be a GM. So I’m now beginning the wonder if I should be moving over to another credit card for a better benefits program.
TD GM Visa Credit Card Features
Annual Fee: None
Interest: 19.75%
Primary Benefit: The card offers 3% back in GM Card earnings which can be used to purchase a brand new GM car. (e.g. I spend a $1000 dollars and I get $30 to put towards a GM car)
Secondary Benefits(A): Preferred rental rates with Budget Rent A Car
Secondary Benefits(B): You, your spouse and dependent children are automatically insured while traveling on a common carrier (Bus) or in a rental car whenever you charge the full cost of your ticket or car rental to your eligible TD Visa Card.
What I like about the card ?
I like no annual fee. The interest rate doesn’t bother me since I rarely carry a balance. However I did call TD once to try and get the rate lowered and they said I couldn’t do that with this card. Does that sound right to anyone else? I also like that I can transfer GM rewards to close family members like your wife, kids, parents, and siblings.
What I don’t like about the card?
I don’t like that I can’t get a lower interest rate. However, I mostly don’t like the benefits. Like I mentioned previously I have no intention of purchasing a GM now or any time in the future. I need a card that gives me rewards that I can use like real cash back or points to buy food. As for the secondary benefits….I already have insurance and I never rent vehicles.
Concerns
I only have two concerns about switching. The first being what do I do with my $900 dollars in GM earnings? Unfortunately, I also don’t know anyone currently in the market for a new GM. I do have a few people who are currently leasing though but I can’t apply these earnings towards the purchase of a lease because it’s considered a used vehicle purchase. I hate the thought of wasting 5+ years of accumulation.
The second issue is my credit score. Last year I applied for 3 new forms of credit and my fico score took a hit. Its begun to recover and the last thing I want to do is take another hit.
There you have it. Do you think I should get a new credit or just live with the crappy benefits?
-mfd-
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
As much as it might suck to lose 5 years of credit card benefits, if you are never going to use it, drop it as soon as you can. There’s no point in losing 6 or 7 years to a crappy rewards card.
I just signed up for the Capital One Platinum cash back card (0.5% to 3k/year, 1% after that on all purchases). One month later I’m sitting at about $9 earned, just for using the card. Also, no annual fee.
I also never keep a balance, so I don’t know what the interest is. Probably around 19% or so, but that doesn’t bother me, I always pay it off in full.
@Alan – Ya I think I’ve come to that conclusion as well. I still a bit concerned about applying for additional credit since my fico score is now on the mend.
TD GM VISA CARD SUCKS!!! After 7+ years accummulating GM points (can’t afford to buy a new vehicle yet) they start DEDUCTING POINTS !!! Sure, it’s in the contract, what a RIP …thanks TD for getting all my interest for all these years and then GM & TD just take away the points. This month I earned 13 points and had deducted 79 points. THIS SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!! TD SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!! I called GM Points center and the guy was so obstinate about “your fault madame you didn’t read the small print”.. I feel violated!!!!! Thanks TD for nothing and GM for even less.
I got rid of the GM VISA as soon as the terms of service changed so that you couldn’t indefinitely accumulate points, as barb unfortunately found out. But I did so after I reduced the points accumulated by purchasing two new GM vehicles over the course of six years. I had accumulated enough points in each case to offset the depreciation experienced by driving a new car off the dealer’s lot. So I figured I got each brand new car for the purchase price of about a six-month old vehicle. I also chose to take the extended warranty on the more expensive (to buy and to repair) vehicle and that warranty more than paid for itself a couple times over. I’m now using credit cards that either offer cash back (MBNA Platinum Plus Smart Card – no annual fee) or offer money back for any travel-related purchases (TD Infinite Travel VISA – no annual fee with the select service TD bank account).